Whole Life Concept Report

Shan Dhillon
In this Whole Life Concept Report I will address my passions that I have for my future career as an
engineer. As an engineer I will have to explore my options and narrow my field of study to meet my
future career goals. My passion, that I will soon explain, is the backbone to my work and the reason I
keep moving forward to become a better engineer. Researching different fields that relate to mechanical
engineering, my current major of choice, has opened my eyes to a new world of opportunities that are
available to me. As I had said before, there are many jobs in the mechanical engineering field that caught
my eye. Ive recently decided on a more specific outcome that I hope to achieve, to become an
aerodynamics engineer. Researching my interest has led me to decide that this field fits all of my criteria.
Now all that is left is hard work, determination, and more hard work to become a master of aerodynamics
and the subcategories that come with it.
My passion is something that has never changed about me, for as long as I can remember I loved making
a difference in the people around me, expanding my circle and becoming more of a people person. Ive
learned through this that my passion comes from seeing the joy and happiness in some ones eyes,
knowing that I did something to make them feel that way. More generally I love making an emotional
impact in the community, something that is more than just charity, something that helps the people in a
long-term aspect. Personally I think it is easy to give a part of your wealth to the community, knowing
where it goes and what exactly it is spent on. It is much more of a challenge to come up with a plan, and
deal with problems that occur in a project. This hard work is what makes the project so much better and
rewarding for the people that I am helping and myself.
Ive noticed since I was a young child that a persons aspirations of me deeply affected the way that I
handle a situation. Working with my dad at a young age gave me plenty of opportunities to try and
impress him with a new talent that I had learned or by a personal project that I worked on without any
help. One of my more recent experiences with my dad came about when I was in my junior year of high
school. He talked to me one nigh about how he missed his motherland back in India and how he used to
sleep on a special bed called a charpoy that he would rather sleep on over any memory foam mattress.
Without him knowing, I spent the next two weeks building one from raw wood and straps of rope. The
finished product was amazing, but what was better than the project was showing my dad the charpoy, his
face said it all and he couldnt have been happier with it. This is when I knew that making some one smile
and seeing the joy in some ones eyes is my true passion. Without the hard work that I had put into this
project or countless hours of weaving the bed, I dont think I would have meant nearly as much to me.
Everyone has a different reason why they strive to do their best. Their passion is what pushes them to go
over the top and make to big impact that they want.
Patience is one thing that took me the longest to learn, hard work with my dad taught me this over time.
Each weekend I would go to work with him fixing things up around his stores and doing small
maintenance projects. We would work long shifts that gave me plenty of time to complain about how tired
I was or how pointless the task was. If there was anything that I learn from this, it was what a good work
ethic looked like. This all came by simply watching my dad. My fathers philosophy was to always work
hard and the reward will come later. I worked each weekend expecting some kind payment for my hard
work but it never came. At the end of each day my dad would take me out to lunch or dinner and that was
my reward. Looking back at the time we spent together and the amount of work we did makes me realize
how important patience is in a working environment. All the hard work we had done throughout the day
made that meal that much better and rewarding. Although patience is a very useful value that I have
acquired over time, making mistakes is my most important strength that I have, because the best way to
get better is to make more mistakes. These mistakes include not wearing a helmet when riding a longboard, a mistake that has taught me the most valuable things in life. Thinking I looked dumb in a helmet

was a minor worry compared to how dumb I looked in the ICU of a hospital with brain trauma. Being as
close to death as I was has never taught me more important things. Its the motivation that I carry each
day to do something great and make an impact in some ones life. Going through 3 months of tedious
rehabilitation opened my eyes. My entire personality changed and I felt like a new person, but after all
this is said and done, Im glad it happened because of the knowledge I gain and the experiences that it
made me go through. I can say it made me a wiser person and a better role model for others.
I hope to one-day make big impacts on the world around me while helping with pressing worldwide
issues and through my personal goals as an engineer. Since I was a young child the sound, looks, and
mechanics of a vehicle have always interested me. I hope to one day be able to work with a performance
team in designing, testing, and hopefully racing a Formula One car. Aerodynamics have always been an
interest of mine, it plays a key role in performance racing. As a member of the Formula One team I hope
to research and design a body shell that meets the requirements to be Formula One certified and one of
the best racing teams in the world. Formula One designs and mechanics are used in cars today without us
knowing it, furthering the safety and efficiency helping daily road going vehicles. Another long-term goal
I had in mind was to be a part of a research team dealing with aerodynamics. Finding new car, plane, or
any form of transportation designs to better the new technology that is growing around us. It is not hard to
see that the combustion engine is slowly being replaced with all electric or hybrid vehicles. With the help
of aerodynamics, these future vehicles have potential to be very efficient. My final personal goal that I
hope to achieve would be to design; construct, and test a car and one day see it on the market for
purchase. Considering that I would have to talk to the right people and work harder than I could ever
imagine, I realize that this goal is very hard to reach. I plan to incorporate efficiency, intricate design, and
fun into a car that I hope to sell at low cost so it becomes an option for lower income families and
possibly a teens first car.
As I plan on getting deeper into my work and all that has to do with it, I must focus on the larger issues at
hand. Airplanes are a large portion of the transportation and shipping industry, and contribute to 11% of
all US CO2 emissions, where the US is responsible for half of the worldwide CO 2 emissions (Kassie).
New designs of airplanes would rely on physics and aero designs to help with fuel consumption and
efficiency, thus taking a large dent of the CO 2 emissions out of the transportation industry and over all
helping the current crisis. New materials and components that go into airplane designs are changing each
day and in the future will be very different, making way for new solutions and inventions for airplane
design. Hybrid cars are another good example of how aerodynamics is an important role in automotive
production. Hybrid cars rely on their body shape and style to get the most aerodynamic design with the
least amount of drag to cut through the air as clean as possible. Hybrid cars are becoming more and more
popular with more appealing designs and features, showing a trend that the future will hold the hybrid
quite high. Creating the best design to get the most efficient standards is what I would strive to do.
Research and development will play a large role in the production of these cars and I hopefully will play a
part in that process. As well as hybrid cars and pollution, global warming is a pressing issue that needs
attention. Airliners are responsible for a large portion of the pollution emitted into the atmosphere and
only making it worst. The jet streams over the Pacific Ocean are changing due to the amount of pollution
and greenhouse gases that are being released into the atmosphere, thus creating a climate change (Magill).
Flights from Hawaii to parts of the US are taking longer due to the shift in jet streams and on coming
winds (Magill). This is causing the airplanes to burn more fuel and emit more greenhouse gases, in turn
making the problem worse. The problem is only getting worse as time goes on, the real problem is
figuring out how to fix all of this. Through aerodynamic engineering and better design and material, there
is hope for new sources of transportation with little use of combustion engines or jets. Gliders are a main
solution that comes to mind giving the best in efficiency but weak in practicality. I hope to one day be
able to make an impact on this pressing problem with my future work and research.

My goals for my future career include a major in mechanical engineering program and a minor in physics
because of the specific major that I hope to have when I attend graduate school, Aerodynamics. My
Bachelors degree would be in Mechanical engineering, and my masters in Aerospace engineering, if the
opportunity comes along I plan on getting my doctoral degree to conduct research. The skills need to
become an effective Aerodynamics engineer is a list to long to explain. The general qualities a
aerodynamics engineer should have are the understanding of specific computer programs, being able to
understand analytical methods very well, working under pressure and time constrains, having
determination, showing perseverance, and having a very good understanding of math and science (How to
Become an Aerodynamics Engineer).
My current major of choice is mechanical engineering, but I may decide to choose Aerodynamic
engineering as a more specific major. Going into a program with a more specified major with regards to
career choice at this point in my life seems like the best decision. Although considering my current major
also falls under the job description that Im looking for and the opportunities that I want open for me,
making this decision and hard one. If I decide to move my major to a more specific area then I will be
limited to that field, but If a stay in mechanical engineering then my options are open to many areas with
just less specified experience. The education that I choose will directly affect my areas I can apply myself
to. I often ask myself questions about if I am in the right field of study, because I dont know if the
material Im learning now will get so hard to a point where I understand nothing and it effects my grades.
Or more broad questions like will I be successful in the specific field that Im moving toward? What if I
cant find a job and have to look for jobs that dont have any interest in me? Maybe I wont make enough
to support my family that I plan on having or maybe I just wont be happy with the job that I have. All of
these questions and concerns are very pressing for me each day, and the only way to really know these
answers is to try my best and push through the hard times so I can enjoy myself in the better times.
Working hard and doing well in school is one way I can assure myself of a job in the future and a steady
income, and finding internships in jobs that interest me is a good way to make connections to a future that
I will enjoy and be successful in.
My passion of helping people and seeing a difference in their lives along with my interest in math and
science is what directly led me to choose Mechanical and Aerodynamics engineering. My interests falls
into the automotive field and formula one race teams, and knowing that aerodynamics engineers evaluate
the ability of materials and engines to adapt to the design of the automobile of aircraft at hand (How to
Become an Aerodynamics Engineer). This accurately describes my interest and gives ideas for jobs that
will help me implement my passion into my work and research. To become an Aerodynamics engineer I
must first finish my schoolwork to get me there. The schoolwork and knowledge I will need includes the
following elements: transonic, supersonic, and subsonic aerodynamics, being able to create an analytical
model, and understanding simulations of lift and drag. The courses I will need to take include physics
based math and labs, circuits, thermodynamics, accelerated calculus with calculus being the prerequisite,
machine design, statics, dynamics and a load of other courses very similar to these courses (How to
Become an Aerodynamics Engineer). These courses will give me substantial knowledge on the subjects of
aerodynamics and understanding how the physics and science behind designs and materials can be
understood. Learning about the drag and lift of airplanes will help me in my research and understanding
of how to make and design more efficient airplane models for construction and testing to help with
pollution issues. The physics course that I plan on taking will help me better understand the surrounding
elements that will have an effect on a design or model that I make, making testing more predictable and
construction better planned in the future. Thermodynamics will help be understand how heat is transferred
through materials when thinking about the level of heat and abuse a formula one race car takes in and
being able to withstand those levels of heat for a long period of time.
In expanding my knowledge to things further than just aerodynamics, I would also like to learn about
military and political affiliations with other countries. Hopefully I can do so by being an engineer in the

military and working over seas to see how different parts of the world function with the US. I would also
like to increase my social and people skills and by becoming a head spokes person for a formula one
team. This will help my public speaking and public interaction skills, thus helping my image as a person
to one day is a head designer of a large company and one day be able to design my own car for
production. Another skill I hope to obtain through my work and studies would be teaching my own class
on aerodynamics or a specified course that applies to my profession. This would help others open their
eyes to different areas of engineering and reach the goals that they have planned. This would make my
passion an important part of my career and impact those around me, over all helping the engineers of the
future.
My passion is something that I love to do, opening the eyes of people by making their days better in the
long run through my hard work and effort. I hope to make an impact in my local community not by
charity, but through hard work and determination. My aspirations for my future include making good
applications to my schoolwork and knowledge that gives me the best opportunities for my future and
career. Working hard now is important to me because like my father has always told me, if you work hard
now the best reward will come in time. I have high hopes for what is ahead of me, my hard work will
transform into knowledge that I plan on using for the best impacts of my community around me. As I
become more successful in my career I hope to be able to apply my knowledge that I have gained over the
years to my hobbies of performance cars. Through my impacts and experiences that I have gained and
hope to keep gaining, Ive learned that my ethics direct my decisions and show my intentions. My ethics
are directly related to passion as well, it reflects my intentions that I have for my community and the
positive impact that I want to impress upon the people within it. Yet this assignment has led me to believe
that I am on the right path to my future. My passion and goals are very intertwined with the job that I
have planned with aerodynamics. Without the help and research of this assignment I wouldnt be nearly
as interested in aerodynamics as I am right now, it has opened my eyes to all the options that are open to
me, including over seas travel, working with the latest technology and reaching some long term dreams
regarding my hobbies and interest. This assignment has also made me realize the dedication it takes to
become a successful and well-respected engineer. Engineers are a society of bright minds that help the
world in every way that they can by putting their work at the top of their list. The community, goals, and
passions that are held so high is what makes me want to stay in this field and become the best I can be.
Commitment is just a part of the job and life style that an engineer must take on, the people rely on us to
help them and give the best we can be.

Citations
Siegel, Kassie. "Airplane Emmissions." Center for Biological Diversity. Accessed November 5, 2015.
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/transportation_and_global_warming/ai
rplane_emissions/.

"How to Become an Aerodynamics Engineer." Academic Invest. Accessed November 5, 2015.

http://www.academicinvest.com/engineering-careers/mechanical-engineering-careers/how-to-become-anaerodynamics-engineer.

Magill, Bobby. "Global Warming Means Longer Flights, and More Pollution." Scientific American. July
13, 20. Accessed November 6, 2015.